Can anyone please recommend a liveaboard marina that would be within reasonable commuting distance of Washington, DC? I will be living in DC for a year and am considering living aboard rather than renting an apartment. I will have a car for the commuting, so that will extend my potential commuting radius somewhat.

I know that the marinas in DC itself are fairly high-demand, and that liveaboard slips there are hard to get. You might want to try the marinas on the Occoquan river, which is about 45 minutes south of DC.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Good luck..I lived on the boat in Woodbridge, and the commute to DC at 5:45 am was 40 minutes, at 6 it was well over an hour, and at 6:15 anyone's guess.

Unless you can use the VRE trains, or live on Maine Ave, be real leary of the commute times often quoted here...especially if you do not know the back roads or alternates. Herrington Harbor is a wonderful marina, but would be an awful commute to the west side of DC or McLean.

As above if your job is truly in DC, you may have luck south of woodbridge, va on the Potomac, there are very few liveaboard slips (legal) in Fairfax County and the Occoquan.

Lots of marinas and a great liveaboard community in Annapolis, and I can make it from Annapolis almost to Dulles airport in VA in an hour at 6 am - maybe that's the upside of a down economy, fewer people with jobs so fewer commuters? There's a commuter bus direct from Annapolis to downtown DC that's very easy - takes about an hour but at least you can spend that time looking at something other than the brake lights of the car in front of you. The other advantage of Annapolis is that when you're ready to go sailing on the weekend, you're only 10 minutes from the Bay.

There is always the Gangplank Marina in DC. It is right near a metro stop and grocery store. However, I think their waiting list for the limited liveaboard slips is well over a year. The best way to get in as a liveaboard at Gangplank seems to be to buy a boat that already has the rights. They often come up on Craigslist. We keep our boat on the Occoquan near Woodbridge, but I'm not aware of any marinas on the river that allow liveaboards.

Traffic in the DC area is a challenge. A lot depends on where specifically you will be working, and the nature of your boat.

The bridges over the Occoquan are pretty low for most sailboats so that is not an option for most people. If you have a boat that will fit under the Rt 1 and railroad bridges PM me for a reference to a marina there.

Sailing on the Potomac is poor.

Herrington Harbour North takes liveaboards and has a lot to offer.

There are a number of good choices in Annapolis. Ask for details and I will elaborate.

If you are truly downtown and can manage the waiting list, Gangplank Marina or Capital Yacht Club are good choices. Things are a little gritty on the waterfront but there is a lot to be said for public transportation in DC.

You should expect about 7 or 8k / year for a 40' boat.

There are lots of places South of Annapolis you could moor or anchor out for less. There are private docks as well, but you need to be local to find them.

JNew,
I work in Arlington and liveabord. We lived at Tantallon Marina for a year and half and had a 30-50 minute commute (traffic dependent). Tantallon is on Swan Creek off the Potomac about 5 miles south of the Wilson Bridge (MD side). Its cheaper than Gangplank and they have space available. Nice people there, but there are no ammenties except pumpout, electric and water. Nice new floating docks. We just moved a few weeks ago to Annapolis. My commute is a little longer and rent is higher but the sailing space is worth it. Eryka's post is accurate re Annapolis. She's a neigbor now .

We checked out Herrington Harbor. Very nice resort style living, but its seems farthest from eveything.

Deale is much the same.

If you want to simply liveabord, I recommend looking close to DC. If you want to sail on the weekends or after work I recommend commuting from the Annapolis area.

I agree with eryka and Shack, Annapolis is great; but I work in Greenbelt. I don't know what you would do if you worked in Bethesda, Rockville or McLean. In addition, if you are on north side of Back Creek Annapolis or on Spa Creek you have easy walking access to Annapolis.
Eryka is on the "evil" side of Back Creek . She needs a dink or car to get into Annapolis.

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